Poker in United StatesPoker has been a big part of American culture for over two hundred years. It is thought to have come from a French card game called Poque, which was popular in the early 1800s in the French quarter of New Orleans. The game evolved over the years, often played on River Boats along the Mississippi. By the time of the Gold Rush, poker was being played in saloons across the Wild West. Then in the early 1900s, playing poker for money was made illegal, and it stayed that way until gambling was allowed in Nevada in 1931. The popularity of US poker has grown steadily since then, played using a wide variety of rules. Ever since the World Series of Poker began in 1970, the game has really exploded.

Online Poker in United StatesPoker may be immensely popular in the US, but from 2011 until 2013 there was no opportunity for poker fans to play at a licensed, legal American poker site. In what became known as Black Friday, PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker were all taken offline and to the courts by the US government, after breaking the Unlawful Internet Gambling and Enforcement Act of 2006.

Luckily, this situation didn’t last long, as the federal government quickly realized the error of its ways, and introduced a new bill in 2012, allowing individual states to launch online gambling within their own state borders. As such, in 2013, Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey all came back online, and all started offering US poker fans legal, licensed online poker sites within one of the states.

With more set to join in the near future, poker is sure to quickly regain its previous popularity.

Online Poker Sites in United States

There are 3 American online poker sites that offer gameplay in English and accept wagers in US Dollars